COVID-19 and Separated Families - ANU Open ...
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COVID-19 and Separated Families
Professor Bruce Smyth
Centre for Social Research and Methods
Australian National University, Canberra
Adjunct Professor Lawrie Moloney
Faculty of Health Science
La Trobe University, Melbourne
Jackie Brady
Executive Director
Family and Relationship Services Australia, Canberra
Judge Joe Harman
Federal Circuit Court of Australia, Sydney
Dr Marian Esler
Centre for Social Research and Methods
Australian National University, Canberra
COVID-19 Issues Paper
17 May 2020COVID-19 Issues Paper
COVID-19 and Separated Families
Many families in Australia are experiencing considerable stress related to fears
about COVID-19,1 economic pressures (the loss of livelihood or income; rent or
mortgage stress, etc), the strain of sudden forced confined close relationships, and
juggling children and work from home.2 New challenges and stresses are emerging in
particular for separated families, family law professionals, and family law courts. In
this paper, we reflect on some of these challenges in the context of the global COVID-
19 pandemic.
I. Families at times of crisis
COVID–19 seems to have found its way into every nook and cranny of our lives. It
represents a worldwide crisis3 the likes of which are experienced on only rare
occasions. It is changing the ways in which many family members are interacting
with each other, though it provides few roadmaps for family coping strategies. At the
same time, crises always contain both dangers and opportunities.
With respect to opportunities, some families, whether separated, blended or
intact, appear to be using their enforced increased time together to find more
creative ways of being with each other – to rethink life’s priorities, especially about
key questions of family coherence and work (paid and unpaid)4, and to re-engage
with partners and children.5 They are also finding creative ways to reach out to
others, including externally based family members such as grandparents. For
individuals in these families, it is likely that home is mainly experienced as a place of
safety, support, comfort and refuge.6 The strengths they derive from having a sense
of place and feelings of belonging are likely to mitigate whatever stresses are being
experienced – fears about the virus itself, concerns about the future, economic
worries, education concerns, the problem of confined interpersonal space etc.
On the negative side, there are dangers that forced isolation will exacerbate
already existing family tensions, vulnerabilities or risks. Involuntary, protracted time
together can act like a pressure cooker, exposing previously hidden cracks in a
couple’s relationship. At times of ongoing emotional and financial stress paired with
an uncertain future, relationships can easily contort and rupture. Minor irritations
can become major pressure points; new tensions can emerge; old issues can
resurface and intensify.7
Not unexpectedly, therefore is emerging anecdotal evidence that a growing
number of Australian couples are seeking to separate or divorce in the context of
COVID-19.8 A similar story is emerging in other countries (e.g., China, Canada, USA,
and the UK).9 While breaking up is hard to do at the best of times, separating during
a global pandemic adds additional layers of complexity. In some locations, support
and legal services can be hard to access. There are also reports of couples who were
about to separate but have had to separate under the same roof due to lockdown.
Clearly the latter, while economically practical, can be a less than an ideal emotional
climate for raising children, and sometimes, unfortunately, for staying safe.
Neither positive responses nor problematic responses to COVID-19 are confined
to any particular category of family. Within all family forms, there will be examples
of intermittent or chronic tensions in relationships and a range of internally or
externally-driven concerns and worries. Vulnerable individuals will typically express
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 1COVID-19 Issues Paper
those vulnerabilities via mental health issues and problems of addiction such as
gambling and substance abuse. And unfortunately, no family form is immune from
having one or more individuals who relate to other family members through the
exercise of coercive control, sometimes with terrible consequences.
II. Challenges and responses for separated families
The focus of this paper is the approximately 650,000 separated families, and the 1.3
million children affected by these separations in Australia.10 For these families too, it
is likely that COVID-19 will amplify both the opportunities and the dangers. At its
best, the virus presents separated families with opportunities to reflect on what is
important, especially with respect to the preservation of key relationships. At its
worst, existing tensions in relationships are likely to be exposed, leading to the
unravelling of arrangements that may have been functioning adequately, even if
imperfectly, in earlier times.
With social isolation requirements in place in Australia, separated families are
also likely to encounter new logistical issues that range from the relatively
straightforward to the virtually impossible. Geographical challenges are likely to be
common. Challenges may also arise in the many situations in which one or both
parents have formed new relationships. Many of these new partners will share
children with their own former partners who may in turn have re-partnered, and so
on. In scenarios such as this, it takes only one adult to wittingly or unwittingly break
the ‘chain of safety’ to put multiple families at risk.
At a practical level, facilitating discussions around COVID-related parenting
issues can often be achieved using digital communication technologies such as
Facetime, Skype and Zoom (or even telephone calls), as well as text-based
communication such as SMS and email. Regardless of the technology, however, the
quality of post-separation interparental relationships is likely to be a key factor in
navigating necessary changes to arrangements.
Fortunately, Australian surveys have consistently indicated that the majority of
separated parents report friendly or cooperative relationships with each other.11 This
is likely to provide a hopeful platform for dealing with COVID-related logistical
difficulties that have not been faced in the past. The challenges are far more
considerable, however, for that group of parents who share the care of their children
(on whatever proportional basis) and who report lots of post-separation conflict
(~13% of mothers and 14% of fathers) or who say they are fearful of their former
partner or of somebody in their former partner’s household (~7% of mothers and 3%
of fathers).12
Challenges for children of separated families
Separation almost invariably changes the ways in which children relate to each
parent. It also frequently increases the ‘relationship load’, bringing expectations or
requirements to form new relationships with parental partners, partners’ children
and partners’ extended families. The additional COVID-induced logistical issues, and
the pressure of maintaining social distancing, adds to the overall burden for
separated parents and their children.
While at this stage, the evidence suggests that children have mainly been
physically unaffected by COVID-19, there appear to be signs of significant impacts on
their general wellbeing.13 Even the popular notion that children and young people are
natural adopters of technologically-based services has been brought into question.
Some practitioners, for example, have noted a desire on the part of their young
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 2COVID-19 Issues Paper
clients to go back to face-to-face service delivery (and not just in the context of
contact with parents).
More broadly, Kids Helpline in Australia, is reporting a 17% increase in demand
for its services.14 There is evidence that young people have been calling with a wide
range of anxieties related to disruption to normal activities (most notably, prolonged
school closures and self-quarantine), and concern about the impacts of the virus on
their family, especially their grandparents.15 Though not surveyed as a separate
group, it is likely that children of separated parents would on average be coping with
a greater number of physical and emotional adjustments at this time.
The research literature has documented a number of physical and mental health
problems that can impact on children when they are not at school for extended
periods. These can include: being less physically active, having extensive periods of
screen time, irregular sleep patterns, and less healthy diets.16 Falling into poverty
because of parental job losses, reduced income and/or online gambling,17 falling
behind in learning, being in a family impacted by a critical illness, and a heightened
risk of witnessing or experiencing high levels of conflict or violence in the home, can
be some of the adverse impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on children and young
people.18
In addition, school, child care, and Maternal and Child Health closures, along
with widespread self-isolation by grandparents, mean that there are fewer eyes on
children to ensure they are safe. On the other hand, forensic online interviews with
children by mental health and child protection professionals raise a number of
ethical and practical issues, particularly related to privacy and safety (who else is
eavesdropping on the interview?).19 Again, all these problems are likely to be
accentuated for children who are part of separated families.
Challenges for separated families
COVID-19 is presenting special challenges to separated families. With many state
borders closed, or self-isolation required for those able to cross borders, COVID-19
has made complying with court orders by separated parents physically impossible in
some cases. For instance, parenting arrangements in which children see an interstate
parent only during school-holidays are no longer practicable. In addition,
changeovers that occur in public places (e.g., at fast food outlets, schools, shopping
centres, police stations) or require others such as grandparents to supervise parent–
child contact can also be highly problematic.
Not surprisingly, family law courts are receiving numerous inquiries from
parents about compliance with parenting orders in the context of the COVID–19
pandemic.20 Many separated parents are legitimately concerned about exposing their
children and themselves to the virus because of typically rigid, highly specified court
orders.21 For instance, one parent may not be practising or be in a position to practise
the same spatial distancing regime as the other. He or she may be caring for a second
partner’s children who in turn are spending time with their other parent. As a result,
a previously agreeable parent may now be objecting to a former partner seeing a
child because he or she is convinced that physical distancing arrangements are not
possible or are being ignored by the other parent.22 Another parent might take action
on the grounds that he or she believes his or her immune compromised child is now
at risk under arrangements that worked satisfactorily prior to COVID-19. Logistical
and health challenges abound.
While many concerns and behaviours will be genuine and reasonable responses
to the situation under COVID-19, there are situations in which COVID-19 is
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 3COVID-19 Issues Paper
effectively ‘weaponised’. Most of these cases are likely to fall into the category of
controlling behaviours or entrenched high-conflict. There are anecdotal reports, for
example, that some parents are reneging on parenting arrangements to ‘get back’ at
the other parent.23 Simply put, in a number of separated families, the pandemic
might be being used as a method of revenge or of imposing additional controls.
And, as Australia inches closer to a recession, massive job losses are likely to
impact the payment of child support in significant ways.24 There is little doubt that a
sizeable number of payers (mostly fathers) – from retail workers to airline pilots –
are likely to face difficulty meeting their child support obligations whereas many low-
income payers may be financially better off under JobKeeper and increased
JobSeeker payments. Of course, many payees (mostly mothers) in paid work will also
have experienced fluctuating fortunes. With the incomes of both parents counted
under the child support formula, the complex ways in which child support liability
can flip with income disparities between parents, and with the complex
interrelationship between child support income and Family Tax Benefit, the impacts
of COVID-19 on the child support system is likely to be creating yet another
headache for government. On the ground, changes in child support can act as a
lightning rod for existing tensions between parents, and result in an upsurge in
informal agreements being struck up that can place some children under additional
stress. To sum up: the financial knock-on effects of the virus on separated families
are mind boggling.
Family Violence and Abuse
As noted, whereas home should normally be a place of ‘safety, comfort and refuge’, it
can be less than a positive place, especially during COVID-19.25 For some, COVID-19
is likely to increase existing risks of violence and abuse.26 There is a growing research
literature on the links between natural disasters, crises and national emergencies and
an increase in family violence. 27 Spikes in family violence when families spend
extended periods of time together (e.g., Christmas/Summer holidays) are also well
documented.
The vast majority of victims of family violence are women. The 2016 Australian
Personal Safety Survey (PSS) showed that:
§ Women were nearly three times more likely to have experienced partner
violence than men, with approximately one in six women (17% or 1.6 million)
and one in sixteen men (6.1% or 547,600) having experienced partner
violence since the age of 15.
§ One in six women (16% or 1.5 million) and one in seventeen men (5.9% or
528,800) experienced physical violence by a partner.
§ Women were eight times more likely to experience sexual violence by a
partner than men (5.1% or 480,200 women compared to 0.6% or 53,000
men).28
The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) defines family violence as “violent, threatening or
other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person’s family
(the family member), or causes the family member to be fearful”; and provides that a
child is exposed to family violence if the child sees or hears family violence or
otherwise experiences the effects of family violence.29
For separated families, COVID-19 can involve a serious risk of violence and
abuse.30 As noted above, this can especially apply when family relationships are
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 4COVID-19 Issues Paper
asymmetrical or controlling, or in some situations in which family members have
significant mental health conditions, or in which substance abuse and other
addictions are an issue.
Of concern with respect to the last of these issues is that alcohol sales, and
presumably consumption, have risen sharply during the current pandemic in
Australia, surpassing Christmas sales. A recent national survey found that 70% of
survey respondents reported drinking more than before COVID-19, and 34% are now
drinking daily. 31 Alcohol and substance abuse are well-known contributors to
intimate partner violence.32 There are serious concerns that COVID-19 has impacted
drug and alcohol services which might lead to those most vulnerable to drug and
alcohol addiction not getting access to the services they need.
It is known that the risk of experiencing family violence is higher for those in
socio-economically disadvantaged areas and those in financial distress.33 Separated
families are among those most likely to be under financial strain. It follows that they
are also likely to be disproportionately represented in the COVID-19 economic
downturn, which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting could
continue to be felt for another decade.
These observations are consistent with the emerging evidence that domestic and
family violence (DFV) frontline services are reporting increasing case numbers and
complexity since the outbreak of pandemic. 34 A recent small non-probability survey
in NSW, for instance, found that “there was a substantial increase in the percentage
of survey respondents [frontline DFV service workers] who identified violence being
reported for the first time”.35
According to a recent Women’s Safety NSW report:
It is likely too early in the crisis to assess the full scope of impact COVID-19
will have on rates of DFV and on the ability of women to access support
services. However, these surveys provide an early indication that the demand
on these services will be on the rise over the coming months as the community
is subjected to isolation and social distancing measures.
Many workers who had not yet perceived an increase in clients noted that they
expected to see an increase in the near future as isolation regulations begin to
tighten. Others raised concerns that victims of domestic violence did not have
sufficient access to information about which services were still open and able
to provide support. A common concern raised was that women being kept in
isolation with an abuser had limited capacity to seek help from home.
(emphases removed)36
This might explain why some frontline DFV services report increasing demand,
while pockets of other services (e.g., women’s legal services, regional services) report
being eerily quiet at present.37 Like many other frontline services, DFV workers face
many challenges working from home, and having to deal with new procedures and
methods for supporting clients.
III. Challenges for Family & Relationships Support Services
One of the most troubling aspects of the current pandemic is its potentially
disproportionate impact on some of the most vulnerable groups in society (e.g., the
elderly, poor, homeless, indigenous, migrant and prison populations,38 and those
with disability39), and the frontline not-for-profit organisations that support them.40
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 5COVID-19 Issues Paper
New rules about how we should interact with each other have impacted most not-for-
profit organisations. In considering the health and safety of their clients and their
own staff, most services have had to change how they operate – shifting from face-to-
face methods to the use of digital communication tools. Vulnerable groups in society
are further disadvantaged by limited access to, and inability to use, technology and
the internet.
As more and more individuals need to find ways of being in virtual contact with
each other, one unanticipated impact of COVID-19 could be a reduction in the so
called ‘digital divide’.41 In terms of service delivery, face-to-face interactions have
traditionally been seen as the most effective form of communication and therefore
the most effective form of assistance. Practitioners, for example, have typically
spoken of the multiple cues that are available in face-to-face situations, making the
establishment of trust and empathy more likely. Such observations, however, tend to
take little account of the practical difficulties experienced by clients in physically
accessing a service.
It is worth noting that while presenting new challenges for everyone, 42 the
pressure on practitioners to move primarily to digital communication has brought
some surprising results. There is emerging evidence, for example, that some clients
feel very comfortable in interacting ‘on their own turf’. And in the case of Zoom and
similar sessions with couples, former couples, or family groupings, some clients are
reporting lower levels of stress. Some in turn are associating this change with
previous more challenging experiences of having to be in the same physical space
with those with whom they may be in conflict.
Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners have also reported surprise at some
families’ capacity (even when parents are stuck in high-conflict) to pivot and put
aside conflict in the interest of everyone’s safety. External threats (e.g., one parent
becomes gravely ill, or a child suffers some form of abuse from an outside party) can
be a powerful way of necessitating a unified response within families. Whether this is
just a moment-in-time for these families, or sets a precedent they can replicate when
the threat is dealt with remains unclear.
In the family law space, however, other layers of complexity can emerge.
Children’s Contact Services are a good example. These services seek to provide a safe
place for children to spend time with a parent about whom there are concerns or
with a parent who has not yet developed a sufficiently robust parent-child
relationship. They also provide a safe, family-friendly location for changeovers to
occur so that parents can, for a time, avoid having face-to-face contact with each
other. Most clients of Children’s Contact Services are – or have been – in court for a
parenting dispute, with many experiencing entrenched high-conflict, as well as
family violence, mental health problems, and substance use.
With the onset of COVID-19, whether or not to continue with a face-to-face
modality and/or with technologically-facilitated parent–child contact for these
essential services has required swift and diligent assessment. Some Children’s
Contact Services have significantly changed the way in which they deliver this service
‘face-to-face’ to reduce and mitigate the risks of social contamination. Others have
made a decision that it is no longer feasible to offer their service face-to-face and
comply with the necessary spatial distancing requirements opting for
technologically-facilitated contact.
However, in both situations, safety assessments have also had to be amended
significantly – especially where provision of non face-to-face service delivery is
concerned. Even when Children’s Contact Services are continuing to operate, some
separated parents appear to be no longer willing for the supervision of parenting
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 6COVID-19 Issues Paper
arrangements to occur at these locations. It is unclear where this leaves those parents
required to use Children’s Contact Services (mostly non-resident fathers) given that
COVID-19 is likely to be present for the foreseeable future.
In other separation-related family and relationship support services, it is clear
that considerable efforts have been made to shift a service from a predominantly
face-to-face delivery to one predominantly delivered via digital technology. Though
this ensures that the majority of family and relationship services can continue to be
provided while the children and families they work with are in self-isolation, risk
screening and risk assessments take on a very different dimension. Just how well
digital communication is working for the often-complex and multiple needs of high-
conflict families remains unclear. Anecdotally, for example, dispute resolution
services are reporting the need to use two mediators while working in the online
environment. Others say they are continuing to do their utmost to ensure face-to-
face service delivery can still be provided. Many services seem to be reporting a rise
in family violence, mental health issues, and substance and alcohol abuse. And yet, as
noted, some family violence services are quiet, raising the possibility that some
individuals may be too afraid to attempt to access services at present.43
Looking into the future, aside from the obvious need to track and measure the
virus itself, the need to track and measure increasing demand for family and
relationships services will be critical if we are to ensure that children and families are
able to access the services they need. Being only weeks in, the economic
consequences and pressures are yet to be fully realised in families shielded by much
needed measures such as increases to Newstart allowance (now JobSeeker Payment)
and JobKeeper Payment. There is a plethora of literature documenting the impact of
recession and economic pressure on families and parental dynamics. We should be
heeding the learnings.
IV. Challenges for Family Courts
As noted by Hrdinova, Berman, Pauley and Ridgway in the US context:
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in tremendous uncertainty and
challenges for governments, businesses and individuals all over the world. The
judicial branches of governments, which often structure work around in-
person encounters and are committed to traditional norms of due process,
face unique challenges when a jurisdiction seeks to shelter in place and
enforce social distancing in the hopes of minimizing the spread of a
communicable disease.44
Like most institutions, courts throughout Australia and the English-speaking world
were generally ill-prepared for the disruption brought by the pandemic. However, as
Legg and Song observe:
Justice Hamill in Rakielbakhour v DPP [2020] NSWSC 323 captured the mo-
ment, and the role of the justice system when he stated ‘[w]hile New South
Wales moves steadily toward a complete “lock-down” the rule of law, and the
courts and lawyers who administer it, are considered to be an essential
service’ (at [13]). This is a sentiment that has been expressed across the
common law world.45
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 7COVID-19 Issues Paper
Not only have the Family and Federal Circuit Courts (“the Family Courts”)
continued to sit, but urgent applications to the Family Courts are suggested to have
increased by almost 40 per cent since COVID-19 reached Australia.46 In response, the
Family Courts have, as of 26 April, 2020, established a separate COVID-19 list.47 To
date only three judgements have been published arising from cases in which COVID-
19 has been a relevant consideration. These have related to a removal of supervision
which would otherwise render a relationship impossible (A & M [unreported] [2020]
FamCA 258), a consideration of health conditions and social distancing on parenting
arrangements (Zeelan & Abney [2020] FCCA 884) and the impact of COVID-19 on
property prices and necessitating adjournment of proceedings (Gayner & Gayner
[2020] FamCA 265). No doubt many more judgements will appear as the pandemic
continues.
Prior to the pandemic, the Family Courts had no capacity to conduct “on-line
hearings”.48 Following the closure of the Sydney Registry of the Family Courts on 17
March 2020,49 it was announced that limits would be imposed on the number of
matters listed (focusing on urgent matters only), and limiting the duration of
hearings and the number of people who would be allowed to be present in the Court
room at any time.50 Telephone attendances at Court events and Registrar and Family
Consultant conferences commenced almost immediately.51 In fact, a number of
judges within the Court immediately closed their Courtrooms and began to
undertake all appearance work by telephone. On 19 March, 2020 the family courts
advised that “the principle basis upon which work will be conducted in the Courts in
the near future will be by telephone, and when it becomes possible52 by
videoconferencing” [emphasis added].53
A joint practice direction issued requiring electronic filing and tender of
documents issued shortly thereafter to limit the need for physical attendance at
Court registries.54 By later March 2020, social distancing measures began to be rolled
out around the world. In response and on 24 March, 2020 the President of the
Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales issued a statement as to
compliance with family law orders in light of increasing social distancing
requirements.55 A similar statement was issued by the Chief Justice of the Family
Courts on 26 March 2020.56
In a Herculean effort, the IT department of the Federal Court and the Family
Courts rapidly deployed Microsoft Teams57 across the Courts to enable hearing work
to continue. This was announced 9 April in a notice to the profession:
The Courts’ operations have had to be substantially adjusted since the
beginning of March this year. Like many institutions and large organisations,
the Courts have had to engage in a long term digital transformation. Microsoft
Teams has been rolled out to each Judge, Registrar and Family Consultant.
Each Judge and Registrar is now able to conduct hearings electronically from
each Registry. Whilst urgent matters will be given priority, Judges now have
the ability to continue to hear defended applications, trials and appeals.58
On 22 April, 2020 a “practitioner and litigant guide to virtual hearings and
Microsoft teams” was published by the Family Courts.59 The rapid deployment of
Microsoft Teams across various Federal and State Courts has not been without
difficulty. While the ability to hear cases using the Teams platform was announced 9
April, 2020, the ability to transcribe the proceedings was initially problematic
(although broadly resolved by late April, 2020). Further, as many in the community
have experienced, with an increasing move to “work from home” arrangements,
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 8COVID-19 Issues Paper
necessary hardware has been in short supply. These supply issues initially created
some delay in all courtrooms moving online.
The conduct of hearings using AV facilities has not been without problems. A
number of reported cases, from both civil and criminal jurisdictions, have
highlighted both practical and philosophical issues. In practical terms, bandwidth
problems, hardware and software failures, difficulties in serving and tendering
documents (or putting them to witnesses) and difficulties in engaging all necessary
parties and litigants, have been reasonably widespread and acknowledged.60
In the Family Courts, these practical difficulties are, in some important respects,
accentuated. In cases involving family violence, remote attendance at “virtual
hearings” may give rise to privacy or safety concerns as litigants are seen in their
home environment and may increase stress and anxiety with an absence of support
services available to litigants (which services are available at registries, such as duty
solicitor services and Family Advocacy and Support Services).61 Impecunious litigants
may not have access to hardware, software or reliable and secure internet
connections. Matters in which parties need the assistance of interpreters present
particular difficulties. Importantly, documents that are produced on subpoena are
often of a sensitive and highly personal nature and cannot ordinarily be copied. To
conduct a “virtual trial” it may be necessary to allow records such as Police and
Child Welfare records, personal medical records, (including counselling and
psychologists records) or records of sexual assault investigations, to be copied,
scanned and emailed to and between parties and/or their legal representatives.62
In addition to online, virtual hearings, the pandemic has seen a rapid
acceleration in the introduction of mandatory e-filing of all documents and the
accelerated introduction of a Digital Court File to render paper files, effectively,
redundant.63 Although e-filing of most documents has been possible since mid-2018,
the uptake in registration for use of the Commonwealth Courts Portal and electronic
filing has been far from complete. However, the e-filing of documents became a
necessity with the closure of the Family Court registries to the public.
It would be hoped that once the need for social distancing and isolation are
passed, there will be time for reflection and consider how to make the best use of the
new technological tools, that necessity has delivered during the pandemic. There are,
after all, both benefits and detriments in the use of online technology to conduct
hearings. As observed pragmatically by Justice Perram in his concluding comments
in Capic v Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (Adjournment):
If I could be sure that the crisis would have passed by October I would not
hesitate to adjourn all the trials in my docket (save urgent cases)…Under
ordinary circumstances, I would not remotely contemplate imposing such an
unsatisfactory mode of a trial on a party against its will. But these are not
ordinary circumstances and we have entered a period in which much that is
around us is and is going to continue to be unsatisfactory. I think we must try
our best to make this trial work. If it becomes unworkable then it can be
adjourned, but we must at least try”.64
The necessary movement to online, virtual hearings has been at the cost of “open
justice”. The principle of open justice is one of the most fundamental aspects of the
system of justice in Australia and the conduct of proceedings in public is an essential
quality of an Australian court of justice’.65 The present conduct of proceedings by
“virtual hearing” does not fulfil this essential element of justice.
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 9COVID-19 Issues Paper
The greatest disadvantages of virtual technology fall to the already
disadvantaged. The poor are less likely to have access to reliable hardware, software
and internet connections. Those with disabilities, the incarcerated, non-English
speakers and children are far more likely to be marginalised or excluded from
participation.
Victims of abuse and family violence are placed in a particularly invidious
position. Notwithstanding that great strides have been made with respect to the
protection of confidential communications in sexual assault and other counselling,
psychological and medical services,66 the conduct of a virtual hearing increases the
prospects of those records being not only “in the public domain”.67 If the hearing is to
be effectively conducted, records can find their way into the hands of third parties as
copying and scanning of material may be required to allow instructions to be
obtained and advice given and material tendered or put to remote witnesses.
There will also be a need to consider perceptions of procedural justice. The
conduct of a parenting hearing, where orders are sought to allocate sole parental
responsibility to one parent or to dramatically change parenting arrangements, may
well be perceived by those parents as less than fair when conducted by telephone or
virtual hearing. The severity of the consequences that result from such hearings have
far more in common with a criminal trial than commercial civil litigation and, hence,
the factors considered in the criminal jurisdiction, as to whether a can or should
proceed online, are arguably germane to matters before the Family Courts.
There is the real risk that economic considerations might make the replacement
of physical hearings attractive, especially in remote and circuit locations. If that were
so, then those communities would be fundamentally disadvantaged and offered a
lesser version of access to justice than their metropolitan counterparts.
But there are also great benefits to carry forward. The use of these emerging
digital technologies can significantly enhance the protection of victims of violence
who could safely participate remotely without the need to be in the same physical
location as the other party/ies.68 The use of digital technology could greatly enhance
access to justice if supplementing and augmenting regional and circuit work,
reducing delays in the address of urgent applications for example. Savings for both
the Family Courts and litigants could be achieved when simple and administrative
matters are dealt with using telephone or AV facilities. And digital technology could
greatly assist in affording access to justice for those who have difficulty attending in
person because of distance or infirmity.
The use of telephone and video appearance has positively impacted listing
practices. Rather than all matters being listed at the same time, judges have adapted
by listing matters to discrete listings or in small groupings of three or four matters at
a time, to minimise the number of people on the line and the “background chatter”
and to ease strain on bandwidth. Those practices are highly likely to continue and to
benefit both Court staff and litigants as well as reducing cost through avoiding
unnecessary waiting.
V. Epilogue
The global COVID-19 pandemic is creating unanticipated opportunities as well as
serious health (both physical and mental), economic, and logistical challenges.69 In
this Issues Paper, we suggest that while opportunities exist around rethinking
priorities, the challenges for separating families are especially likely to be
accentuated.
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 10COVID-19 Issues Paper
For some separated families, the normal transitional tasks, especially those
involving the negotiation of arrangements for children, have suddenly become
considerably more complex. The anxieties and logistical problems associated with
this invisible and highly contagious virus are placing additional stresses on parents,
even the majority who describe their post-separation relationships as friendly or
cooperative. The evidence suggests that many parents in this category are likely to
rise to the occasion. But some will need additional counselling, mediation and other
supportive services. In the meantime, these very services will be under pressure to
deliver responses that are safe and are seen as safe. They will also be attempting to
assist parents to manage problems that have simply not existed in the past.
Practitioners in this space will need to become increasingly skilled in what Voss has
labelled ‘tactical empathy’.70
As noted, roughly one in five separated parents are struggling with, or are locked
into, chronic high-conflict and/or dysfunctional behaviours associated with violence,
serious mental health issues, or problems with addiction. For them, COVID-19
anxieties and logistical problems will prove considerably more difficult to negotiate.
These families are more likely than ever to need swift, inexpensive and effective
access to judicial decision-making. Like family and relationship services, however,
courts are needing to address the challenge of finding the right balance between safe
service delivery and fair and just decisions. And, like family and relationship services,
courts are also likely to be experiencing resource difficulties in providing a response
of this nature.
VI. Future Research
COVID-19 continues to impact on separated families in ways not yet understood. 71 It
is critical that high-quality, ethical research is conducted to help policymakers,
practitioners, service providers, and program administrators understand the impacts
of the current health and economic crisis on separated families. Timely data on work
(paid and unpaid) within households, family dynamics, financial stress, family
violence, and family wellbeing, for example, are critical for making good policy
decisions in uncertain times.
Looking to the future, there is an urgent need for ‘natural experiment’
longitudinal studies to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on couple relationships
and post-separation family life. The division of household labour during lockdown
warrants investigation as a potential wedge in couple relationships. Understanding
the views and concerns of children is another critical piece of the pandemic jigsaw.72
Equally important is a systematic and rigorous investigation into the ways in which
the pandemic has impacted judicial and legal practice, and court orders. Many day-
to-day adjustments to parenting arrangements are likely to be occurring during the
pandemic, and these need to be tracked and mapped.
In addition, separated parents, like their still-together counterparts, are
increasingly making use of digital technologies to communicate with each other, and
to stay connected with their children. The use of digital communication technology
by separated families during COVID-19 offers important insights for communication
and conflict specialists.73 There is also little systematic outcome data on the benefits
(or otherwise) of using digital technology (e.g., smartphone divorce apps) by
separated parents.74 And because technologically-mediated communication provides
new opportunities for those who use violence to continue the cycle of abuse from
afar, urgent research is needed on technologically-facilitated abuse.75 Finally,
Indigenous separated families are being affected by the pandemic in ways that differ
ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 11COVID-19 Issues Paper from the effects on mainstream Australia. It is vital that these differences be understood and addressed.76 The same is true for migrant and ethnically-diverse separated families. Clearly, we are currently a long way from understanding the multitudinous, complex, ever-changing, and likely long-lasting impacts of COVID-19 on separated families and the broader community. Notes 1 For brevity, we use the pandemic’s common abbreviation ‘COVID-19’ throughout rather than its formal name and abbreviation ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2) or its early provisional name and abbreviation ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ (2019-nCoV). 2 Biddle, N., Edwards, B., Gray, M. & Sollis, K. (2020). Hardship, distress, and resilience: The initial impacts of COVID-19 in Australia (COVID-19 Impacts Issues paper). Canberra, ACT: ANU Centre for Social Research & Methods, Australian National University. Accessible at: https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2020/5/The_initial_impacts_of_COVID- 19_in_Australia_2020_3.pdf 3 By crisis we mean a significantly difficult or dangerous situation with the potential to bring multiple problems in its wake. 4 Kraaijenbrink, J. (2020). The bright side of Covid-19: Seven opportunities of the current pandemic. Forbes Online, March 23. Accessible at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2020/03/23/the-bright-side-of-corona-seven- opportunities-of-the-current-pandemic/#6cc89b7c785c; Freud was to famously suggest: “Love and work … work and love. That’s all there is.” 5 See Starbird, K. (2020). How a crisis researcher makes sense of Covid-19 misinformation: Collective sensemaking during times of uncertainty and anxiety, 9 March. Accessible at: https://onezero.medium.com/reflecting-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-as-a-crisis-informatics- researcher-ce0656fa4d0a; Cluver, L., Lachman, J. M., Sherr, L., Wessels, I., Krug, E., Rakotomalala, S., ... & Butchart, A. (2020). Parenting in a time of COVID-19. The Lancet, www.thelancet.com, 395, April 11. Published Online 25 March, 2020. Accessible at: https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0140- 6736(20)30736-4 6 Fehlberg, B., Campo, M., Natalier, K., & Smyth, B. (in press) The meaning of home for children and young people after separation. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law; Fehlberg, B. https://law.unimelb.edu.au/covid-19/video-domestic-violence,-covid-19-and-home 7 Yiying, F. (2020). Spousal distancing: The Chinese couples divorcing over COVID-19. 3 April. Sixth Tone (Online). Accessible at: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005435/spousal-distancing-the- chinese-couples-divorcing-over-covid-19 8 Dick, S. (2020). Coronavirus lockdown prompts more couples to seek divorce. The New Daily, 19 April. Accessible at: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/04/19/coronavirus-lockdown- divorce/; Newnam, S. (2010). More babies or more divorces after Covid-19? How disasters do, or don’t, affect fertility and divorce. Psychology Today (online). Accessible at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/singletons/202004/more-babies-or-more-divorces- after-covid-19; see also: Devine, A. (2020). Agents brace for a rise in divorce couples seeking quick sales during Covid-19 crisis. Daily Telegraph, 19 April. Accessible at: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/agents-brace-for-rise-in-divorced-couples-seeking-quick-sales- during-covid19-crisis/; Bamford, M. How COVID-19 is changing our closest relationships, ABC radio, 5 May. Accessible at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-05/coronavirus-is-changing-our- closest-relationships/12180620 9 Yiying, F. (2020), above n 7; Fies, A. (2020). Surge in divorces anticipated in wake of COVID-19 quarantine, ABC News, 17 April. Accessible at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/surge-divorces- anticipated-wake-covid-19-quarantine/story?id=70170902 10 Department of Social Services and Department of Human Services (2014). Joint submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Inquiry into the Child Support Program (Submission 94). Canberra: DSS & DHS. Accessible at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Aff airs/Child_Support_Program/Submissions 11 Kaspiew, R., Gray, M., Weston, R., Moloney, L., Hand, K., Qu, L., & the Family Law Evaluation Team. (2009). Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies; Qu, L., Weston, R., Moloney, L., Kaspiew, R., & Dunstan, J. (2014). Post-separation ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 12
COVID-19 Issues Paper Parenting, Property and Relationship Dynamics after Five Years. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. 12 Kaspiew et al (2009), above n 11. 13 United Nations (2020). Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Children. 15 April. Accessible at: https://un.org.au/files/2020/04/Policy-Brief-on-COVID-impact-on-Children-16-April-2020.pdf 14 Gerova, V. (2020). Kids Helpline sees surge in Coronavirus related calls. Accessible at : https://10daily.com.au/news/australia/a200325plztb/kids-helpline-sees-surge-in-coronavirus- related-calls-20200325 15 Op cit. 16 Wang, G., Zhang, Y., Zhao, J., Zhang, J., & Jiang, F. (2020). Mitigate the effects of home confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet, 595(10228), 945–947, March 21. Accessible at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30547- X/fulltext?fbclid=IwAR393Qg1UwsA8tLHX9xlJlwNzVqXbHtR1fBsTCMZ_pxBwVytKON2GzMv3KI 17 For instance, based on a weekly sample of the transactions of ~250,000 Australian consumers, online gambling increased by 142% between 27 April and 3 May compared with a “normal week”. See Alphabeta (2020). COVID19 economic impact: Real time tracking. Accessible at: https://www.alphabeta.com/illiontracking 18 Human Rights Watch. (2020). COVID-19’s devastating impact on children: Governments should mitigate harm, protect most vulnerable. Human Rights Watch, April 9. Accessible at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/09/covid-19s-devastating-impact-children 19 We are grateful to our New York pediatric psychiatrist colleague, William Kaplan MD, for this insight. 20 See: http://www.familycourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fcoaweb/about/news/mr260320 21 In law, the issue would be whether the person had a ‘reasonable excuse’. There is little doubt that complying with the COVID-19 guidelines in good faith would be a reasonable excuse. See Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) ss 70NAE, 70NEA and 70NFA. 22 See e.g., Foster, H., & Fletcher, A. (2020). Child contact, shared care, and family law in the context of domestic and family violence and COVID-19, 13 April. Sydney: Women’s Safety NSW 23 Fitzsimmons, C. (2020). Separated parents using pandemic to reopen custody fights. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 April. Accessible at: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and- relationships/separated-parents-using-pandemic-to-reopen-custody-fights-20200403-p54h04.html 24 Daykin, S. (2020). What happens when coronavirus means you can’t afford child support, My Money, 31 March. Accessible at: https://www.moneymag.com.au/coronavirus-afford-child-support 25 Fehlberg, Campo, Natalier & Smyth (in press), above n 6; see also Fehlberg (2020), above n 6. 26 Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, (2020). covid-19 and family violence, family-friends and neighbours. Accessible at: https://www.dvrcv.org.au/print/help-advice/coronavirus-covid-19-and-family-violence/family- friends-and-neighbours 27 See e.g., Parkinson, D. (2019). Investigating the increase in domestic violence post disaster: an Australian case study. Journal of interpersonal violence, 34(11), 2333-2362; Schumacher, J. A., Coffey, S. F., Norris, F. H., Tracy, M., Clements, K., & Galea, S. (2010). Intimate partner violence and Hurricane Katrina: predictors and associated mental health outcomes. Violence and Victims, 25(5), 588–603. 28 Estimate of 53,000 men has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution. 29 Section 4AB.(1) and (3). 30 Hall, B. (2020). Surge in 'urgent' Family Court cases as COVID-19 pressures boil over. Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April. Accessible at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/surge-in-urgent-family-court-cases-as-covid-19-pressures-boil- over-20200424-p54mxl.html; Davies, S., & Barba, E. (2010). Europe braces for domestic abuse 'perfect storm' amid coronavirus lockdown. Thomson Reuters Foundation News. Accessible at: https://news.trust.org/item/20200326160316-7l0uf 31 Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) (2020). Alcohol Sales & Use During COVID-19: Polling snapshot. Canberra, ACT: FARE. See also: Green, E. (2020). Addiction crisis looms as most vulnerable fall through pandemic cracks. 10daily. 26 April. Accessible at: https://apple.news/A5Wm0A4QCQiyz3zLeJVa0TA; FARE (2020). Alcohol sales and use during COVID-19: Polling snapshot. Accessible at: http://fare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19- POLL.pdf 32 ABS (2017). Personal Safety Survey, Australia, 2016 (Cat No 4906.0). Canberra: ABS. Accessible at: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0; Catalá-Miñana, A., Lila, M., Oliver, A., ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 13
COVID-19 Issues Paper Vivo, J. M., Galiana, L., & Gracia, E. (2017). Contextual factors related to alcohol abuse among intimate partner violence offenders. Substance Use & Misuse, 52(3), 294–302. 33 Tate, A. (2020). Governments acting on lockdown domestic violence, but cash must hit the ground. The New Daily, 21 April. Accessible at: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/04/21/coronavirus- lockdown-domestic-violence-help/ 34 Foster, H., & Fletcher, A. (2020). Women’s Safety Survey update: Impacts on COVID-19 on Domestic and Family Violence in NSW, 2 April. Sydney: Women’s Safety NSW. Accessible at: https://www.womenssafetynsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/UDPATE_COVID19-Impact- on-DFV-in-NSW_2.04.20_WSNSW.pdf 35 Op cit. N=40. See also https://apple.news/AxOXhr3KYR3C2wfRh3FdbFQ 36 Foster, H., & Fletcher, A. (2020), above n 34, at 4. 37 Tate, A. (2020), above, n 32. A similar polarised pattern appears to be occurring among mental health services: Hayne, J. (2020). Mental health services are seeing a drop in usage amid coronavirus, despite increased anxiety. ABC News, 29 April. Accessible at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020- 04-29/mental-health-coronavirus-impact-beyond-blue/12196922 38 See e.g., Markham,F., Smith, D.& Morphy, F.(2020). Indigenous Australians and the COVID-19 crisis: perspectives on public policy, Topical Issue no. 1/2020. Canberra: Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. Accessible at: https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/indigenous-australians-and-covid-19-crisis- perspectives-public-policy 39 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse and Neglect, Exploitation of People with Disability (2020). Statement of concern: The response to the COVID-19 pandemic for people with disability. Accessible at: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2020-03/COVID- 19%20Statement%20of%20concern.pdf 40 Falconi, M., Fahim, C., & O'Sullivan, T. (2012). Protecting and supporting high risk populations in pandemic: Drawing from experiences with influenza A (H1N1). International Journal of Child Health and Human Development, 5(3), 373–381; Justice Connect (2020). COVID-19 Response Briefing Note: Guidance for the not-for-profit sector. Justice Connect: Melbourne. Accessible at: https://nfplaw.org.au/sites/default/files/media/Justice_Connect_-_Response_to_COVID- 19_briefing_note.pdf 41 Digital ‘have-nots’ in Australia typically include: the elderly, the poor, the homeless, migrants and others with low levels of English literacy or education, those with a disability, and those who live in regional or remote areas. See: Smyth, B., & Fehlberg, B. (2019). Australian post-separation parenting on the smartphone: What’s ‘App-ening?. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 41(1), 53–71. 42 Sacasas, L.M. (2020). A theory of Zoom fatigue. The Convivial Society: Dispatch No. 5, 21 April. Accessible at: https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/a-theory-of-zoom-fatigue; Jiang, M. (2020). The reason Zoom calls drain your energy. BBC Online, 23 April. Accessible at: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting 43 See e.g., ABC Radio Adelaide (2020). SA Police says no spike in domestic violence amid coronavirus restrictions, despite alleged murder, 20 April. Accessible at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-20/police-say-no-domestic-violence-spike-in-sa-during- coronavirus/12165598 44 Hrdinova, J., Berman, D. A., Pauley, M., & Ridgway, D. (2020). Documenting the Challenges (and Documents) As Ohio Courts Respond to COVID-19. Ohio State Public Law Working Paper, (541). Accessible at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3574733 45 M. Legg, & A. Song (2020). The courts and the pandemic: the role and limits of technology. Law Society Journal NSW, 66 May, 68–70. 46 Hall, B. (2020). Surge in ‘urgent’ Family Court cases as COVID-19 pressures boil over. Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March. Accessible at: https://www.smh.com.au/national/surge-in-urgent-family- court-cases-as-covid-19-pressures-boil-over-20200424-p54mxl.html; see also: Doran, M. (2020). Coronavirus concerns see family courts rush through applications linked to COVID-19. ABC News online. Accessible at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-25/family-courts-to-fast-track-cases-coronavirus/12184498 47 Practice Direction 3 of 2020 – the COVID-19 list. Accessible at http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/rules-and-legislation/practice- directions/2020/jpd032020 48 Video facilities were Accessible to conduct hearings between static locations such as other Court rooms, correctional facilities and the like. Telephone attendance was Accessible but, other than for circuit work and appearances by parties a significant distance from a Registry, sparingly used. ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 14
COVID-19 Issues Paper 49 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/mr160320a. This closure caused the disruption and postponement of the “summer campaign” of call overs. 50 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/covid19-170320 and http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/f2f-registrar- protocol 51 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/covid19- 180320. 52 At that point it was not possible. 53 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/covid-notice 54 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/rules-and- legislation/practice-directions/2020/jpd022020 55 See https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/coronavirus-crisis-guidance-on-compliance-with- family-court-child-arrangement-orders/ 56 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/mr260320. As some States implemented “hard” border closures a further guidance was issued 8 April, 2020 see http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/covid-info-borders. 57 Microsoft Teams is designed as “a hub for team collaborations” rather than the conduct of online hearings. It has been rapidly embraced and adapted for the purpose of hearings as a matter of necessity. 58 See http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/covid-notice- 090420 59 http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/about/news/virtual-hearings 60 See e.g., R v Macdonald; R v Edward Obeid; R v Moses Obeid (No 11) [2020] NSWSC 382 (8 April 2020) and Capic v Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (Adjournment) [2020] FCA 486 61 Let alone the stress and anxieties that follow from the circumstances discussed in R v Macdonald and others above-intermittent connections, dropping out, not being able to hear what is occurring, etc. 62 Practice Direction 2 of 2020 provides, at paragraph 5, “Photocopy access will not be made to documents including a child welfare record, criminal record, medical record or police record, in accordance with sub-rule 15.30(2) of the Family Law Rules 2004 and sub-rule 15A.13(2) of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001”. Accessible at: http://www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/rules-and-legislation/practice- directions/2020/jpd022020 63 The DCF was rolled out across the Family Courts on an accelerated basis on 14 April, 2020. 64 [2020] FCA 486 at 23 & 25 65 See Spigelman CJ John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v District Court of New South Wales [2004] NSWCA 324. 66 Commencing with the introduction of s.126B Evidence Act 1995 NSW [then] protecting sexual assault counselling records and each State and Territory now including some degree of protection of for “protected confidences” or medical relationships. Such protections are not, however, included in the Evidence Act 1995 (Cmwth) nor recognised in family law proceedings (see Chisholm J Benson & Hughes [1994] FamCA 30). 67 Through production to the Court on subpoena. 68 And, absent social distancing requirements, with relevant and necessary supports Accessible and including the ability to appear with and be in the same physical space as their legal representative. 69 For excellent summaries of the global impacts of and responses to COVID-19, see the world maps by the WHO and the IMF: https://www.covid-nma.com/dataviz/; https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19 70 Voss, C., with Raz, T. (2016) Never split the difference. Negotiating as if your life depended on it. New York: Harper Business. 71 Rudolph, C. W., & Zacher, H. (2020). “The COVID-19 Generation”: A Cautionary Note. Work, Aging and Retirement. Accessible at: https://academic.oup.com/workar/advance- article/doi/10.1093/workar/waaa009/5820879 72 See e.g., Dick, S. (2020). Stuck-at-home students tell of their struggles and triumphs making the grade. The New Daily, 8 May. Accessible at: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/05/08/coronavirus-learning- online/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%20- %2020200508 73 See e.g., Smyth, B. M., Ainscough, G., & Payne, J. L. (in press). Modes of communication between high-conflict separated parents: Exploring the role of media multiplexity and modality switching. ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods 15
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